Container

ABSTRACT

A container for storing elongated articles having different heights at their respective ends permitting maximization of the storage capacity in a minimum amount of volume. The rectangular container body defines a hollow chamber therein and has covers at either end, individually, selectively removable from the container body. At least one inclined intermediate wall placed within the container body segments the chamber into chamber portions some of which are accessable by removing a first of the covers and others of which are accessable by removing the second of the covers. By the inclusion of additional intermediate walls, the chamber can be further divided to increase the utility of the container. Selective shaping of the container covers permits nesting of the covers within one another and the container body to be angularly positioned within the covers to facilitate access to the articles stored within the container body.

Farkas [451 Feb. 5, 1974 CONTAINER [75] Inventor: Paul Farkas,Elizabeth, NJ.

[73] Assignee: Thomas & Betts Corporation,

Elizabeth, NJ.

22 Filed: Aug. 18,1971 211 Appl. No.: 172,833

[52] US. Cl 220/4 C, 220/20, 220/22 [51] Int. Cl B65d 11/10, B65d 25/04[58] Field of Search 220/4 C, 4 F, 4 B, 4 E, 20, 220/22 [56] ReferencesCited UNITED STATES PATENTS 304,111 8/1884 Laube 220/4 C 2,706,5764/1955 Thon 220/22 2,665,808 1/1954 McAlisterQ. 220/22 3,344,945 10/1967Bozek 220/53 1,750,258 3/1930 Brownm. 220/22 1,970,970 8/1934 Nolan220/22 2,300,259 10/1942 Kueppers 220/4 C FOREIGN PATENTS ORAPPLICATIONS 1,31 1,985 ll/l962 France 220/20 Primary Examiner-George E.Lowrance Attorney, Agent, or Firm--David Teschner; Jesse Woldman [5 7]ABSTRACT A container for storing elongated articles having differentheights at their respective ends permitting maximization of the storagecapacity in a minimum amount of volume. The rectangular container bodydefines a hollow chamber therein and has covers at either end,individually, selectively removable from the container body. At leastone inclined intermediate wall placed within the container body segmentsthe chamber into chamber portions some of which are accessable by removing a first of the covers and others of which are accessable byremoving the second of the covers. By the inclusion of additionalintermediate walls, the chamber can be further divided to increase theutility of the container. Selective shaping of the container coverspermits nesting of the covers within one another and the container bodyto be angularly positioned within the covers to facilitate access to thearticles stored within the container body,

3 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures mamanrm 5m:

SHEET 3 [IF 6 PATENTEU FEB 74 SHEET 0F 6 FIG. 10 r PAIENTED FEB 74 FIG.12

FIG. 13

PATENIED 3.790.018

SHEEI 8 OF 6 FIG. 14

CONTAINER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention Theinvention is directed to the field of containers and more particularlyto containers for storing articles having different heights at theirrespective ends, such as article bundling straps for joining a pluralityof discrete articles into a unitary bundle. For example, to bundlediscrete conductors into a cable, for the bundling of a plurality ofrods, tubes, or the like. Particularly, the invention is directed tocontainers to facilitate the packing, storage, transportation, andhandling of the straps employed for such bundling and to make thedispensing of such straps simpler and more direct.

2. Description of the Prior Art According to the prior art, articlebundling straps are generally packaged in cloth paper or plastic bags,the

tops of which must be removed in order to gain access great height ofthe head end portion, a great deal of space is .wasted because thecontainer has to be dimensioned according to the collective heights ofthe straps at the head end portion leaving a great deal of wasted spacein the much lower height tail end portion.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention seeks to overcome thedifficulties noted above in previous packaging techniques for articleshaving differing heights at their respective tail end and head endportions. This is achieved by means of a unique container having acontainer body portion the front, rear and end walls, thereof, defininga hollow chamber and one or more inclined intermediate walls segmentingthe chamber into chamber portions each accessible from opposite openends of the container body. A selectively removable cover is placed ateach of the open ends of the container such that when a first of thecovers is removed one or more of the chamber portions are accessible andwhen the second of the covers is removed other chamber portions areaccessible. Each inclined wall defines two complementary, generallytruncated wedge shaped chamber portions, each having an end of narrowwidth and an end of greater width, thereby accurately defining chamberportions conforming to the dimensional variation of the bundling strapsthemselves. That is, when the bundling straps are stored within thetruncated wedge shaped chamber portion, the low height tail end portionis placed in the smallest dimension of the chamber portion and thegreater height head end portion is placed in the widest dimension of thechamber portion.

By extending the chamber portions beyond the height of the surroundingfrom, rear and end walls, a natural surface is provided to permit thecontainer body portion to be tilted at an appropriate angle tofacilitate access to the bundling straps stored within one of thechamber portions. Alternatively, due to the shape of the containercovers they may be stacked one within the other or the body portion ofthe container stacked within the cover in such a manner that thecontainer body may be tilted at an appropriate angle. In practice, oneof the selectively removable covers is first removed and placed upon aworking surface. The second cover is then positioned within the firstremovable cover so as to properly tilt the inner body towards the personemploying the bundling straps therein. When this first chamber portionis emptied, the container is removed from the cover, turned over, andthen may be either repositioned within the now extra cover or placeddirectly upon the supporting surface. By the use of the inclinedintermediate wall within the chamber of the container body, the chamberdefined by the container body is employed to its maximum, in that theoverall dimensions of the container may be greatly reduced as comparedto a rectangular container of sufficient dimensions, as to accept agiven number of bundling straps as defined by the height of the head endportions. The unique container described herein permits a reduction of40 percent of the volume normally required. It is therefore an object ofthis invention to provide an improved container for storing anddispensing articles.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved containerpermitting access to the chamber within, from either end thereof.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an improvedcontainer for articles having differing heights at their respective endsby employing an inclined wall therein to reduce the overall dimensionsof such container.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide an improvedcontainer having an inclined wall therein to divide the internal chamberinto two chamber portions and having a cover at each of the respectiveends, either one of which may be removed to permit access to one of thechamber portions.

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a container with aplurality of inclined walls therein subdividing the internal chamber ofthe container into a plurality of chamber portions, selective ones ofwhich may be employed by removing selectively removable covers. 7

It is yet another object of this invention to provide a container havingat least one inclined wall therein extending beyond the bounds of thewalls of such container in such a manner that the container may bepositioned to a prescribed angle with respect to a supporting surface inorder that access may be had to the conwhich covers may'be nested withinone another and which permits the nesting of the container body portionwithin such covers in such a manner as to position the container bodywith respect to a supporting surface so as to facilitate access to thecontainer.

Other objects and features of the invention will be pointed out in thefollowing description and claims and illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principles of theinvention, and the best modes wich have been contemplated for carryingthem out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:

In the Drawings:

In the drawings in which similar elements are given similar referencecharacters.

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a container constructed inaccordance with the concepts of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a front elevational view of the container of FIG. 1 withcovers removed therefrom.

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of the container of FIG. 1 with the coversremoved.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the body of the container of FIG. 1 withthe covers removed.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the container of FIG. 1

top cover.

FIG. 6 is a front elevational view, in section, of the cover of FIG. 5taken along the lines 6-6 of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side elevation of the container of FIG. 1, partiallyfragmented, showing the covers positioned upon the container body.

FIG. 8 is a side elevation of the container of FIG. 1, partially insection, showing the manner of storage of articles having differingheights along their length therein with the top cover removed.

FIG. 9 is a side elevational view of the body portio of the container ofFIG. I placed upon a supporting surface in a position to permit accessto the chamber therein.

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of the container of FIG. 1 wherein thecontainer body portion is tiltably positioned in the removed andinverted top cover placed upon a supporting surface in such a manner asto permit access to a portion of the chamber of the container.

FIG. 11' is a side elevational view, partially fragmented, to show afurther container constructed in accordance with the concepts of theinvention.

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view, partially fragmented, to show yetanother embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 14 is a front perspective view of yet a further embodiment of theinvention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:

Turning now to FIGS. 1 through 7'there is shown a first embodiment of acontainer constructed in accordance with the concepts of the invention.Container 20 has a container body portion 22 shown in greater detail inFIGS. 2, 3 and 4, and cover portion 24 and 26 shown in detail in FIGS. 5and 6. As will be described below with reference to FIGS. '6 and 7, theinner edges of the cover portions 24, 26 are undercut and the outeredges of the body portion 22 is recessed to provide frictional lockbetween body portion 22 and cover portions 24, 26. In addition, aselectively removable sealing means such as a tape 28 may be employed toseal the cover 24 to the body portion 22 to prevent moisture and dustfrom entering container 20. Similarly, a selectively removable sealingmeans, such as the tape 30, may be employed to seal the cover portion 26to the body portion 22. Such tapes may be removed so as to permit accessto the chamber within the body portion 22 from either end and may bereapplied to reseal the container should only a portion of its contentsbe required at any one time. Body portion 22, as is better shown in FIG.3, is comprised of a front wall 32, a rear wall 34, a first or left endwall 36, and a second or right end wall 38, all of which circumscribe ahollow rectangular chamber 40.

An inclined intermediate wall 42, better seen in FIG. 4, divides thechamber 40 into two chamber portions 44 and 46 each in the shape of atruncated wedge. As is seen in FIGS. 4 and 7, intermediate wall 42extends above and below the heights of the respective end walls 36, 38,rear wall 34 and front wall 32. A rear wall extension 48, a cross wall50 together with end walls 52 and 54 (seen in FIG. 3) enclose at theupper end chamber portion 44. Similarly, front wall extension 56, crosswall 58 and end walls 60, 62 (seen in FIG. 3) serve to enclose at thebottom chamber portion 46. The extensions of the chamber portions 44 and46 above and below the heights of the respective front, rear and endwalls permit the container 20 to store articles of a length greater thanthe height of these respective walls and secondly permits the containerbody 22 to be positioned upon a working or supporting surface at anacute angle facilitating access to the straps contained therein.Referring to FIG. 9 there is shown a container body portion 22 placedupon a supporting surface 64, which may be a work bench or the like, sothat the free edge of the rear wall 34 and the edge of the extension ofchamber portion 46, formed by the intermediate wall 42 and cover wall 58contact the work surface 64 in such a manner as to tilt the containerbody 22 at an acute angle to the work surface 64 and thus permit eachaccess to the chamber portion 46. Similarly, the container body 22 maybe tilted upon work surface 64 to facilitate access to chamber portion44 when container body 22 is inverted.

If it is not necessary or desirable to store articles in the containerhaving an overall dimension greater than the heights of the respectivewalls, then a modification may be made to the body portion in order toeliminate the extensions provided in FIG. 4. A first of these modifiedforms of the body portion is shown in FIG. 11 wherein container bodyportion 66 has an inclined intermediate wall 68 having an overall heightthe same as the end walls 36, 38, front wall 32 and rear wall 34. Afirst cross wall 70 coupled to the rear wall 34, the intermediate wall68 and portions of the end walls 36, 38 close the end of the firstchamber portion 72 at the upper portion of FIG. 11. In a similar manner,a second cross wall 74 coupled between the front wall 32, portions ofthe end walls 36, 38 and the intermediate wall 68 serves to sea], at thebottom portion of FIG. 11,- the second chamber portion 76. The containerarrangement of FIG. 1 1, having approximately the same heightthroughout, cannot be tilted using only the container body portion 66alone. As will be described below with reference to FIG. 10, the coverscan be employed to tilt the container body 66 with respect to asupporting surface to facilitate access to chamber portions 72, 76. InFIG. 12 a further modification is shown wherein body portion 78 has aninclined wall 80 therein to define a first chamber portion 82 betweenthe intermediate wall 80 and the rear wall 34 and a second chamberportion 84 between the inclined intermediate wall 80 and the front wall32. With this arrangement the chamber portions 82 and 84 are open atboth their top and bottom surfaces, the respective covers being employedthereover to serve as bottoms and tops for the respective chambers 82and 84. Also, if desired to leave the chamber portions 44, 46 open (inFIG. 4) cross walls 50 and 58 can be eliminated.

Returning now to FIG. 3 there is shown a further intermediate wall 86extending between the front wall 32 and inclined intermediate wall 42 tofurther divide the chamber portion 46 into two smaller chamber portions.Intermediate wall 86 has the function of strenghtening the overallcontainer body portion 22 and minimizes the movement of articles storedwithin the chamber portion 46 as some of the articles are withdrawn.With this arrangement, it is possible to withdraw articles from a firstof the portions of the chamber portion 46 while fully restraining theremaining articles in the other area of the chamber portion 46. Asimilar intermediate wall is provided in the chamber portion 44 althoughnot visible in the figures.

It should be noted that each of the walls extending above the generalheight of container body portion 22, that is, rear extension 48, frontextension 56 and end walls 52, 54, 60 and 62 are inclined with respectto the planes of the front wall 32, rear wall 34, and end walls 36, 38.The reason for this, as will be described below with respect to thecovers 24 and 26, is to facilitate their use in a nestable manner sothat the container may be tilted with respect to a support surface. Itshould also be noted that each of these respective extensions and wallscan be made to be coplanar with respect to the front wall 32, rear wall34, and end walls 36, 38, if it is desired to use a cover also havingcoplanar walls. The recessed portion 88 provided about the top ofcontainer body portion 22 along each of the end walls 36, 38, the frontwall 32 and the rear wall 34, and similarly recessed portion 90,extending along the bottom edge of the end walls 36, 38, the front wall32 and rear wall 34 facilitate the receipt thereon of an undercutportion of the covers 24, 26 respectively to permit a smoothtransitional region between the body portion 22 and the covers 24, 26'and provide for a frictional lock therebetween. As will be described,tabs can be added along the undercut portions of the covers 24, 26 oralong the recessed portions 88, 90 to increase the frictional lockingengagement of the covers 24, 26 with the body portion 22.

Turning now to FIGS. 5 and 6 cover 24 is shown. It should be noted thatcovers 24 and 26 are identical in all details and may be usedinterchangeably. Cover 24 consists of a top member 92-, a'front member94, rear member 96 and side members 98, 100. As can best be seen in FIG.6, side members 98 and 100 are inclined with respect to top member 92and although not visible in FIGS. 5 and 6, front member 94 and the rearmember 96 are similarly inclined with respect to top member 92. Theoverall shape of the cover 24 may be described as a truncated pyramidwhich will faciltate, as was generally described above, the nesting ofthe covers 24 and 26 within one another. An undercut portion 102, whichmates with recessed portion 88 of the body portion 22, properly locatesthe cover 24 with respect to the body portion 22. Also, as set forthabove, it provides for a smooth transition between cover 24 and bodyportion 22 and permits the frictional locking of these parts. Tabs 103,within undercut portion 102 frther increase the frictional locking ofcover 24 to the body portion 22. The bottom cover 26 is similarlyconstructed and has an undercut portion matching the recessed portion 90at the bottom of body portion 22 for engagement therewith.

Turning now to FIG. 7 there is shown a fully assembled container 20 withthe body portion 22 closed at its respective ends by the covers 24 and26 and showing the manner of engagement of the undercut portion 102 withthe recessed portion 88 and undercut portion 105 of cover 26 Turning nowto FIG. 10 there is shown the container 20'of FIG. 1 in a position upona supporting surface 64, such as a work bench, positioned in such amanner as to permit access to the chamber portion 46. After removing thesealing means 28, cover 24 is removed from the body portion 22 andplaced in an inverted position upon the supporting surface 64. Cover 26is then positioned within the inverted cover 24 so that the body portion22 is tilted to permit easy access to the chamber portion 46.

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is shown the body portion 22 of container20 with cover 24 removed and loaded with articles such as bundlingstraps 104 in respective chamber portions 46, 44. As can be seen withrespect to the straps 104 in the chamber portion 46, the head endportions 106 consume a greater amount of space than the tail endportions 108. Due to the position and inclination of intermediate wall42, the chamber 46 is shaped and dimensioned in such a manner as tomatch the shape of the articles 104 contained therein and thus permitsthe maximum utilization of the available space.

Turning to FIG. 13 there is shown a further container constructed inaccordance with the concepts of the invention. Container 150 has a bodyportion 152 and a cover portion 154. A cover similar to cover 154,covering the upper portion of a body portion 152 has been removed inorder that the inner details of the body portion 152 are more visible.Placed within the body portion 152, composed of a front wall 156, rearwall 158, a first end wall and second end wall 162, are two inclinedintermediate walls 164 and 166. Front wall extension 168 and a rear wall170 joined respectively with a first cross wall 172, end walls 174 and176 and a second cross wall 178 and end walls 180 and 182 fully enclosetruncated wedge shaped chamber portions similar to the chamber portions44 and 46 of FIG. 4. The two chamber portions just described areaccessable from the bottom of the container 150 when the cover 154 isremoved. Between the inclined intermediate walls 164 and 166 is a thirdchamber portion 184 to which access can be gained from the top byremoving the top cover v(not shown). In this manner the available spacewithin body portion 152 can be divided into three portions to acceptthree groupings of articles which may, for example, vary in color fromone another. If desired,'the device FIG. 13 may be extended by includinga unit similar to container 150 either in an end to end relationship,that is, by placing a rear wall such as 158 adjacent to the front wall156 or in a side by side relationship such as by placing an end wall 162against the end wall 160. This may be accomplished by physically placingsuch containers 150 together or forming it initially in that manner.Similarly, the container may be made as large as needed by repeating theabove.

In the embodiment of FIG. 14 container 200 is formed into four discretechamber portions by including two inclined intermediate walls 202 and204 each of which only extends half the width of the front wall 206 andrear wall 208. The inclined intermediate walls 202 and 204 will cross atthe mid points of their respective lengths and thereby in a mannersimilar to FIG. 4 will divide the overall chamber into four equalportions. Despite the spacing between the intermediate walls 202 and 204straps contained in the chamber portions will not be permitted to movefrom one chamber portion to another because at least one-half of theoverall length of the straps will be contained within a fully enclosedchamber portion. That is, an article placed within the chamber portion210 bounded by the front wall 206, end wall 212 and intermediate walls202 and 214 will be fully contained for at least 50 percent of theiroverall length. In a similar fashion articles placed within theremaining three chamber portions will be bounded completely for at leasthalf of their overall length and thus will be restricted with theirmovement from one chamber portion to another. The arrangement of FIG. 14can similarly be extended to produce a container with as many chamberportions as is desired.

The embodiments of the invention in which the exclusive property orprivileges claimed are defined as follows:

1. A container for articles having different heights at the respectiveends thereof comprising: a front wall having a first end and a secondend; a rear wall having a first end and a second end; said rear wallextending in spaced parallel relationship to said front wall; a firstend wall having a first end coupled to said first end of said rear walland a second end coupled to said first end of said front wall; a secondend wall having a first end coupled to said second end of said rear walland a second end coupled to said second end of said front wall; saidfirst and second end walls extending in parallel spaced relationship;said first and second end walls, said front wall and said rear walldefining a hollow rectangular chamber having a first open end and asecond open end; a first intermediate wall coupled to said first endwall and positioned intermediate said first and second ends of saidfirst end wall and inclined with respect to said front and rear walls; asecond intermediate wall coupled to said second end wall and positionedintermediate said first and second ends of said second end wall andinclined with respect to said front and rear walls oppositely to saidfirst intermediate wall; said first intermediate wall and said secondintermediate wall crossing each other at their mid-points along theirrespective lengths; a first transverse wall coupled to said front walland said first intermediate wall and extending from the crossing pointof said first and second intermediate walls parallel with said first andsecond end walls; a second transverse Wall coupled to said rear wall andsaid second intermediate wall and extending from the crossing point ofsaid first and second intermediate walls parallel with said first andsecond end walls; a third transverse wall coupled to said firstintermediate wall and said rear wall and extending from the crossingpoint of said first and second intermediate walls parallel with saidfirst and second end walls and in a direction opposite said first andsecond transverse walls; and a fourth transverse wall coupled to saidsecond intermediate wall and said front wall and extending from thecrossing point of said first and second intermediate walls parallel withsaid first and second end walls and in a direction opposite said firstand second transverse walls whereby said chamber is divided into fourportions; a first cover for selectively closing said first end of saidchamber; said first cover lockingly engaging at least two of said firstand second end walls, said front wall and said rear wall defining saidfirst end of said chamber; and a second cover for selectively closingsaid second end of said chamber; said second cover lockingly engaging atleast two of said first and second end walls, said front wall and saidrear wall defining said second end of said chamber whereby entry to thechamber may be had by removing either of said first or second covers.

2. A container for articles having different heights at the respectiveends thereof comprising: a front wall having a first end and a secondend; a rear wall having a first end and a second end; said rear wallextending in spaced parallel relationship to said front wall; a firstend wall having a first end coupled to said first end of said rear walland a second end coupled to said first end of said front wall; a secondend wall having a first end coupled to said second end of said rear walland a second endcoupled to said second end of said front wall; saidfirst and second end walls extending in parallel spaced relationship;said first and second end walls, said front wall and said rear walldefining a hollow rectangular chamber having a first open end and asecond open end; an intermediate wall having a first end and a secondend coupled to said first and second end walls; said intermediate wallpositioned intermediate said first and second end walls and inclinedwith respect to said front and rear walls; said first end of saidintermediate wall being closest to said rear wall and extending abovesaid rear wall and said second end of said intermediate wall beingclosest to said front wall and extending below said front wall; a rearextension coupled to said rear wall and extending in the direction ofsaid intermediate wall first end; a first cross wall coupled at a firstend to the free end of said rear extension and at its second end to saidfirst end of said intermediate wall; a front extension coupled to saidfront wall and extending in the direction of said intermediate wallsecond end; and a second cross wall coupled at a first end to the freeend of said front extension and at its second end to said second end ofsaid intermediate wall a first cover for selectively closing said firstend of said chamber; said first cover lockingly engaging at least two ofsaid first and second end walls, said front wall and said rear walldefining said first end of said chamber; and a second cover forselectively closing said second end of said chamber; said second coverlockingly engaging at least two of said first and second end walls, saidfront wall and said rear wall defining said second end of said chamberwhereby entry to the chamber may be had by removing either of said firstor second covers.

3. A container as defined in claim 2, further comprising: a first sidewall coupled .to said first end wall, said first cross wall, said rearextension and said intermediate wall adjacentsaid first end thereof; asecond side wall coupled to said second end wall, said first cross wall,said rear extension and said intermediate wall adjacent said first endthereof; a third side wall coupled to said first end wall, said secondcross wall, said front extension and said intermediate wall adjacentsaid second end thereof; and a fourth side wall coupled to said secondend wall, said second cross wall, said front extension and saidintermediate wall adjacent said second end thereof.

1. A container for articles having different heights at the respectiveends thereof comprising: a front wall having a first end and a secondend; a rear wall having a first end and a second end; said rear wallextending in spaced parallel relationship to said front wall; a firstend wall having a first end coupled to said first end of said rear walland a second end coupled to said first end of said front wall; a secondend wall having a first end coupled to said second end of said rear walland a second end coupled to said second end of said front wall; saidfirst and second end walls extending in parallel spaced relationship;said first and second end walls, said front wall and said rear walldefining a hollow rectangular chamber having a first open end and asecond open end; a first intermediate wall coupled to said first endwall and positioned intermediate said first and second ends of saidfirst end wall and inclined with respect to said front and rear walls; asecond intermediate wall coupled to said second end wall and pOsitionedintermediate said first and second ends of said second end wall andinclined with respect to said front and rear walls oppositely to saidfirst intermediate wall; said first intermediate wall and said secondintermediate wall crossing each other at their mid-points along theirrespective lengths; a first transverse wall coupled to said front walland said first intermediate wall and extending from the crossing pointof said first and second intermediate walls parallel with said first andsecond end walls; a second transverse wall coupled to said rear wall andsaid second intermediate wall and extending from the crossing point ofsaid first and second intermediate walls parallel with said first andsecond end walls; a third transverse wall coupled to said firstintermediate wall and said rear wall and extending from the crossingpoint of said first and second intermediate walls parallel with saidfirst and second end walls and in a direction opposite said first andsecond transverse walls; and a fourth transverse wall coupled to saidsecond intermediate wall and said front wall and extending from thecrossing point of said first and second intermediate walls parallel withsaid first and second end walls and in a direction opposite said firstand second transverse walls whereby said chamber is divided into fourportions; a first cover for selectively closing said first end of saidchamber; said first cover lockingly engaging at least two of said firstand second end walls, said front wall and said rear wall defining saidfirst end of said chamber; and a second cover for selectively closingsaid second end of said chamber; said second cover lockingly engaging atleast two of said first and second end walls, said front wall and saidrear wall defining said second end of said chamber whereby entry to thechamber may be had by removing either of said first or second covers. 2.A container for articles having different heights at the respective endsthereof comprising: a front wall having a first end and a second end; arear wall having a first end and a second end; said rear wall extendingin spaced parallel relationship to said front wall; a first end wallhaving a first end coupled to said first end of said rear wall and asecond end coupled to said first end of said front wall; a second endwall having a first end coupled to said second end of said rear wall anda second end coupled to said second end of said front wall; said firstand second end walls extending in parallel spaced relationship; saidfirst and second end walls, said front wall and said rear wall defininga hollow rectangular chamber having a first open end and a second openend; an intermediate wall having a first end and a second end coupled tosaid first and second end walls; said intermediate wall positionedintermediate said first and second end walls and inclined with respectto said front and rear walls; said first end of said intermediate wallbeing closest to said rear wall and extending above said rear wall andsaid second end of said intermediate wall being closest to said frontwall and extending below said front wall; a rear extension coupled tosaid rear wall and extending in the direction of said intermediate wallfirst end; a first cross wall coupled at a first end to the free end ofsaid rear extension and at its second end to said first end of saidintermediate wall; a front extension coupled to said front wall andextending in the direction of said intermediate wall second end; and asecond cross wall coupled at a first end to the free end of said frontextension and at its second end to said second end of said intermediatewall a first cover for selectively closing said first end of saidchamber; said first cover lockingly engaging at least two of said firstand second end walls, said front wall and said rear wall defining saidfirst end of said chamber; and a second cover for selectively closingsaid second end of said chamber; said second cover lockingly engaging atleast two of said fIrst and second end walls, said front wall and saidrear wall defining said second end of said chamber whereby entry to thechamber may be had by removing either of said first or second covers. 3.A container as defined in claim 2, further comprising: a first side wallcoupled to said first end wall, said first cross wall, said rearextension and said intermediate wall adjacent said first end thereof; asecond side wall coupled to said second end wall, said first cross wall,said rear extension and said intermediate wall adjacent said first endthereof; a third side wall coupled to said first end wall, said secondcross wall, said front extension and said intermediate wall adjacentsaid second end thereof; and a fourth side wall coupled to said secondend wall, said second cross wall, said front extension and saidintermediate wall adjacent said second end thereof.